The Department of Primatology at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany is seeking a postdoctoral researcher for its Pan African program ‘The Cultured Chimpanzee’ (for more details on this project please see the report in Nature 476, 18 August 2011, pp. 266-269 and http://panafrican.eva.mpg.de/).
More specifically, the research to be conducted will address questions related to the large-scale, range-wide variation of chimpanzee social and demographic structure, as well as investigate the respective contributions of underlying drivers leading to such variability. Within the Pan African Program we are using remote video traps for collecting a unique range-wide dataset on the social and demographic structure of more than 30 chimpanzee communities of all subspecies. Additionally, a wide spectrum of ecological context information on habitat structure, food resource availability and predators will be available.
Although standardized, the available dataset on chimpanzee social and demographic structure considerably differs from the common type of data that is available from long-term chimpanzee research sites. Data processing and analysis will therefore require new and innovative approaches including the application of available automated species detection software, the use of citizen science for species and individual classification and advanced statistical methods.
The successful candidate will therefore need excellent organizational and quantitative skills, including statistical and programming expertise. Furthermore, since this work will be directly linked to other projects within the Pan African Program, we expect the candidate to communicate well with other researchers for mutual benefit and integrate well into the department.
The position is available for a three year period from 1 January 2014. The annual salary will be up to 36,000 Euros for German candidates depending on qualifications and an equivalent tax free stipend for foreign candidates.
Please send a Curriculum Vita, publication list, cover letter (including the contact information for two references) to Ms. Claudia Nebel (nebel@eva.mpg.de). Please reference “Postdoc chimpanzee social and demographic structure-The Cultured Chimpanzee” in the subject line.
|
